This invention relates to walking canes, crutches and other walking aids and more particularly to an apparatus that prevents slippage of the shaft of a walking aid on ice or packed snow.
Slippage of a walking aid on ice is a dangerous peril to the handicapped who depend on walking aids. Prior devices to prevent or to decrease slippage on ice have been comprised of sharp points that are generally retractable and built into the shaft of the walking aid. All are relatively expensive in comparison to the cost of a simple walking cane. Some are quite heavy for an item in which weight is crucial.
Included in the prior art is U.S. Pat. No. 4,434,808 which teaches a separate handle parallel to a handle on a walking aid for actuating metal points at the shoe of the walking aid. U.S. Pat. No. 4,411,284 describes a slidable and rotatable tip for walking aids. Earlier U.S. Pat. No. 619,235 explained a circular toothed band that was integrated into the end of a shaft of a walking aid in a manner that it could be slid down to be used or raised when not in use. Between the time of that earlier patent and the more recent devices, a variety of others have provided methods of projecting retractable metallic members from the inside of, from the outside or at the side of shafts of walking aids.